Camp Shower Showdown

[Honu]

at least for us the nice thing about the coleman is wash your hands quickly with warm water wash the kids hands etc.. nice when its cooler out to have warm water on tap
I just drop the water feed into our 5 gallon jug

 

[mrlocksmith]

I am a fan of keeping things real simple. I use a wet soapy wash rag to apply soap and scrub, and another wash rag to rinse off with.

One advantage of being bald is I do not have to wash my hair :victory:

Mark

 

[Honu]

baby wipe shower is simple also

 

[Dave Bennett]

I spent 6 months with the baby wipe system in Iraq circa 2003... No thanks!

 

[1leglance]

I have 2 setups...
A) Stainless steel bug sprayer with rotating nozzle selector, works great, easy to carry & use and can help with dishes and other task

B) The Sportsmobile has a flat plate heat exchanger that uses engine coolant to heat water and then a sureflow pump for the shower & sink. It has 16gal of water in the tank and you can control the temp easily. This one is amazing but you can use way too much water as you don't think about it like the bug sprayer method.

Honestly I am fine with nightly baby wipes, then a more involved shower every 3 days or so.

 

[Wyowanderer]

I built my shower from a sunshower shower head, some fittings and tubing, and a reliance water can. It works great and I can use it for dishes too.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Would love to answer any specific questions you might have about the Helton units. As a personal testimonial I've been using mine now for nearly 5 years without a problem, literally hundreds have taken showers from under the hood of my FJ40 or Tacoma, on the Carbon Neutral Expedition to Overland Expo for example I think we had 10 people in line to take a nice hot shower on shores of Lake Powell. By day 4 we all needed it

They are easy to use. Plug in the shower head, plug in the intake tube (that is either in a body of water, water tank or can) and turn on the power. With an idling engine it will continually heat water. I originally picked one up as a user, I liked them enough I started importing them. I don't like the idea of idling my motor any more then the next guy but the amount of fuel burned in the 5-10 minutes it takes to heat up 5-10 gallons (enough for 4+ to shower) is pretty negligible and we usually heat up water in the morning while we let the truck warm up or as we roll into camp as the motor is warm and it will quickly heat 5 gallons of water. Once I have a Scepter MWC can full of hot water, I turn off the motor and just take a nice leisurely shower.

If there are any other questions you have LMK

 

[Dave Bennett]

I ordered a Zodi Extreme, we'll see how it works at the Rendezvous

 

[CSG]

Not quite true! I have a Coleman one, got it at Walmart for about $8 I think. Have only used it 10 times at the most and the tube has developed a leak where it goes into the bag. Not sure if I could take it back and get a new one but I doubt if I can find the receipt anyway!
Vic

You bought junk. There are better brands like this one:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Elements-Gallon-Summer-Shower/dp/B000J2Q0T4/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1298085412&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Advanced Elements 5 Gallon Summer Shower / Solar Shower: Sports & Outdoors[/ame]

 

[homemade]

I’ve had a Coleman hot water heater for 7yrs. I’m sort of surprised that it seems to be not as popular a choice but it definitely can’t compare on name coolness with “Zodi”. It does everything pretty well, heats water almost instantly without any preparation after initial set up, good flow/output, propane canister lasts a long time, battery lasts a long time between charges, not too big/packs pretty well and comes with a good collapsible water container. You can also get spare parts for it, I bought replacement collapsible Coleman water container at a local department store and a replacement pump from Coleman for about $20 (original died after 5 years of use). But I think the best feature is that it can be used for more than just showers. Hot enough for hot drink - instantly, can pre-heat water so if you want it hotter it doesn’t take that long with a pot on the stove, hand washing, dishes/utensile washing. I think it was the single best camping accessory that made camping with younger children easier and I really sleep better after showering off the sweat and grime from a day of fun when camping. Some of the other products seem just plain quirky, one heated by your car engine - are you kidding - “carbon neutral expedition” ?

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...Some of the other products seem just plain quirky, one heated by your car engine - are you kidding - “carbon neutral expedition” ?

Whats quirky about it? One could plumb it to cycle water while driving thus wasting absolutely zero fuel be it gasoline, diesel or propane. Its ideal for the 'set it and forget it' type that don't want to have to pack one more thing and plan to use them heavily. Even while using at a standstill I can heat 5 gallons for pennies worth of gasoline, something you can't do with the rising cost of throw-away propane cylinders that are not intended to be refilled. To compare the longevity of a engine heat exchanger with some of the others is nearly impossible, under normal (off-road use included) circumstances the heat exchanger will never wear out. Hence why they are used in the marine and industrial applications regularly. Its by not means the 'one size fits all' answer but to call it quirky is naive at best.

There is a reason a handful of Aussie companies make engine based heat exchangers for use all over the Outbacks of the world, they work

 

[Salue]

To compare the longevity of a engine heat exchanger with some of the others is nearly impossible, under normal (off-road use included) circumstances the heat exchanger will never wear out.

I agree; I've had mine in use for over 10 years and not a problem.

Cheers,
Salue

 

[spikemd]

Solar shower. It's just easier even if it isn't a great shower. Less gear, nothing to go wrong, easy to use.

Not true. Last visit to the Grand Canyon, we left our 'solar bag' on the picnic table in the sunlight to heat up. When we got back to the campsite from a little hike, the damn crows had pecked through it! :Wow1: We had no other food items or garbage out other than the shower. Couldn't believe it, but we had no 'shower' the rest of the trip out. I tried patching it up, but it still leaked. I think the brand was Seattle Sports 5 gallon.

So, don't leave your solar shower unattended.

 

[xtatik]

I use the Zodi Hot Tap. Considered the Extreme, but it takes up more space.
The only pitfall to the Hot Tap is it's pump, so i replaced it with a Rule bilge pump....now it cranks!

 

[RocKrawler]

I have the R&M for the same reason as the first responder, it was the only thing out back then (and was only $289). It was on my 87 X-Cab and removed when it sold, and has been in storage until now where its being put onto my 97 E350 for use again (I have this real cool spot for it where I accidentally drilled through a hard heater line when mounting my new rear seats, it will act as a giant splice and fit nicely underneath)

x3

Who are you kidding? Like you ever take showers!

Whats quirky about it? One could plumb it to cycle water while driving thus wasting absolutely zero fuel be it gasoline, diesel or propane. Its ideal for the 'set it and forget it' type that don't want to have to pack one more thing and plan to use them heavily. Even while using at a standstill I can heat 5 gallons for pennies worth of gasoline, something you can't do with the rising cost of throw-away propane cylinders that are not intended to be refilled. To compare the longevity of a engine heat exchanger with some of the others is nearly impossible, under normal (off-road use included) circumstances the heat exchanger will never wear out. Hence why they are used in the marine and industrial applications regularly. Its by not means the 'one size fits all' answer but to call it quirky is naive at best.

There is a reason a handful of Aussie companies make engine based heat exchangers for use all over the Outbacks of the world, they work

Well said!